Man charged in fake ID scheme

A man from Northport was among three people charged Tuesday in South Carolina with selling fake IDs to thousands of college students across the country.

Staff, wire report

A man from Northport was among three people charged Tuesday in South Carolina with selling fake IDs to thousands of college students across the country.After a search of a home near the University of Virginia, federal authorities charged the three with mail fraud, wire fraud and fraud-related activity in connection with identification documents.The defendants are Kelly Erin McPhee and Alan McNeil Jones, both 31, and Mark G. Bernardo, whose age was unavailable. Records at U.S. District Court in Charlottesville, Va., do not list an attorney for the three. Jones is from Northport, according to The Daily Progress newspaper in Charlottesville, Va.An affidavit filed by a Homeland Security agent says an investigation revealed that since early 2011, the defendants mailed more than 4,000 parcels containing high-quality phony driver's licenses to addresses at or near colleges. The operation came to light last year when authorities found fake IDs possessed by several students at the College of Charleston in South Carolina.The affidavit says the defendants manufactured phony driver's licenses at the home leased by Jones, who also used the alias Joshua Tucker, and conducted their business in cash. Authorities conducted an undercover buy of fake IDs and conducted video surveillance of the house and the local post office where the business maintained a box, the agent wrote.Investigators executed a search warrant at the home Monday evening and found about $200,000 cash in a safe, as well as “high powered assault rifles” and other firearms, the affidavit says.McPhee's initial court appearance is set for Wednesday morning. Court records don't list a date for the other two.